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Adventists and Catholics

The History of a Turbulent Relationship

by Reinder Bruinsma (Author)
©2024 Monographs XX, 326 Pages

Summary

This book deals with the origins and history of anti-Catholicism among Seventh-day Adventists in North America. These anti-Catholic sentiments were rooted in the history of nineteenth-century America, as well as in Adventist interpretation of particular apocalyptic passages in the Bible. Building on historicist prophetic interpretations, Adventists developed an end-time scenario in which Catholics were expected to play an increasingly sinister role.
This book chronicles in detail the flow of this turbulent relationship, from the emergence of Adventism down to the present day. It will be of interest to all those interested in the fields of Seventh-day Adventist history, American religious history, ecumenics, and Roman Catholic history in the United States.
After giving a detailed and very well documented account of how theological positions are conditioned by historical, political and economic circumstances, Bruinsma demonstrates how anti-Catholicism became an identity badge of Adventism, and the theological core of its apocalyptic prophetic interpretation. Against recent internal calls for a stop to Catholic bashing, the Adventist hierarchy has reaffirmed it is as central to its identity. The dominant ultraconservative branch of the church holds fast to the nineteen century views of the pioneers, and refuses to admit that theology must adjust to cultural developments, or that Vatican II brought about significant changes to Catholicism. This book represents a call for an aggiornamento in Adventism, which is not only timely but also indispensable. Besides, it is an expose of the fallacy of thinking that one’s superiority is established by demonizing the Other.
Herold Weiss, Professor emeritus of Religious Studies,
Saint Mary’s College, Notre Dame, (IN), USA
Adventists and Catholics—why would anyone write a book about such a strained relationship? Reinder Bruinsma has faced the challenge! And his now-expanded pioneering study unearths factors and aspects that have long been forgotten or are unknown outside Adventism: Protestant anti-Catholicism in the 19th century, historicist interpretation, and a prophetic stamp on particular positions. The scholarship resulting from this inquiry in the 1990s was significant as the first major work on Adventist interchurch relations, and with the addition of a major chapter discussing post-Vatican II developments, the horizon is now even more comprehensive. We must be grateful to Bruinsma for his sound academic perspective: As in strained family relationships, understanding the reasons for friction is an indispensable step towards improving them.
Stefan Höschele, Prof. of Systematic _ eology & Adventist Studies
Friedensau University, Möckern, Germany

Table Of Contents

  • Cover
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • About the author
  • About the book
  • This eBook can be cited
  • Contents
  • Illustrations
  • Acknowledgments
  • Abbreviations
  • Introduction
  • Chapter 1 The Context
  • Post-Reformation Views on Roman Catholicism in England
  • Puritan Views on Roman Catholicism
  • America in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century
  • Millenarianism
  • The Anti-Catholic Climate in Nineteenth-Century America
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 2 The Movement of William Miller and Catholicism
  • The Millerite Movement
  • William Miller (1782–1849)
  • From Ecumenical Movement to Sect
  • Catholicism in the Millerite Chronological Scheme
  • The Catholic Church in the Prophecies of Daniel
  • The Catholic Church in the Book of Revelation
  • Millerism and the Catholic Threat
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 3 Sabbatarian Adventists and Catholics
  • Developments in Sabbatarian Adventism
  • Catholicism and Its Opponents
  • The Crystallizing of Prophetic Views
  • “Popish Errors”
  • Limited Interest in Contemporary Issues in Catholicism
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 4 Seventh-day Adventists and Catholics: 1863–1915
  • The Formative Period of Seventh-day Adventism
  • Developments in Catholicism
  • Continuous Prophetic Interest
  • Emphasis on History
  • Adventist Reactions to Current Issues in Catholicism
  • Adventist Fears for the Immediate Future
  • Ellen G. White’s Views regarding Catholicism
  • Institutions Versus Individuals
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 5 Adventism and Catholicism: 1915–1965
  • Adventism Comes of Age
  • Developments in American Catholicism
  • Continued Anti-Catholicism
  • Reconfirming the Prophetic Framework
  • The Mass and Other Errors
  • Adventism and Anti-Catholicism
  • Adventist Reactions to Specific Issues
  • Prospects for Evangelization
  • No Signs of Real Change?
  • The Second Vatican Council
  • Conclusion
  • Chapter 6 After 1965: A Little Less Turbulence?
  • Adventism Becomes a World Movement
  • Catholicism since Vatican II
  • Developments in Adventist Prophetic Interpretation
  • Interacting with Babylon and Its “Daughters”
  • Recent Adventist Appraisals of Roman Catholicism
  • Reacting to Events and Trends in Catholicism
  • Again: Will Rome Ever Change?
  • Summary and Conclusions
  • Bibliography
  • Index of Persons
  • Index of Topics

Acknowledgments

I owe a lot of gratitude to all those who have encouraged and supported me while I was working on this project—in its first phase (in the early 1990s) when I was preparing my doctoral dissertation, and, more recently (2023), as I revised and expanded it.

A few people ought to be mentioned in particular. First, there is Dr. Judith F. Champ, a specialist in English post-Reformation Catholicism, who is currently connected with St. Mary’s College, the seminary of the archdiocese of Birmingham, UK. She was Professor of Church History at King’s College, University of London, when I worked on my degree, and gave me clear guidance, invaluable counsel, and sympathetic support as my advisor. Dr. George Knight, Professor of Church History at Andrews University (Berrien Springs, MI, USA), read and criticized a draft of my thesis. His detailed remarks helped me to avoid quite a few errors, while his positive evaluation gave me the confidence I needed to finish this project within the time frame I had set myself. After I had submitted my thesis and obtained my degree, he arranged to have my work published by Andrews University Press.

I did a major part of my research in the James White Library at Andrews University in the early 1990s, where James B. Ford and Sharon J. Crews of the Heritage Room provided the kind of service every researcher hopes for. Since 2003 James Ford is the associate director of the Center for Adventist Research at the James White Library. Sharon Crews—now Sharon Thomas Crews—currently serves at the church’s headquarters office in Silver Spring, MD, as one of the editors of the quarterly adult Bible study guide. Bert Haloviak, who was the curator of the Archives of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists (Silver Spring, MD), also was of great assistance. Regretfully, he passed away in October 2022. Katherine Van Arsdale, digital librarian at the Adventist Digital Library (Silver Spring, MI, USA), was of great help in the selection of, and getting the necessary permissions for, the use of the illustrations in the book. A special word of thanks must also go to Dr. Jan Paulsen, who was the president of the Trans-European region of the Adventist Church when I was working on my dissertation. He applied the denominational policies in a creative way, so that I could have a leave of absence between church assignments to finalize my research and writing.

I feel a different kind of gratitude toward two persons, who, each in their own way, have supported me in my academic ambitions. I treasure the memory of my mother, who in the 1950s and 1960s made significant sacrifices to enable me to attend secondary school and college. I owe a great debt to my wife Aafje, who has always been 100 percent supportive of my academic aspirations and gave renewed support when I decided to go back to this project and bring it up to date.

Dr. Denis Fortin, professor of historical theology at Andrews University, and Dr. Jean-Claude Verrecchia, emeritus-professor at Newbold College of Higher Education (Binfield, UK), read and criticized Chapter Six, which I added to the bring the history of the attitude of Adventists toward Catholics up to the present. Their expert advice was very helpful. Finally, a word of appreciation for Dr. Philip Dunshea of the Peter Lang Publishing Group for his encouragement and for guiding me through the process toward publication.

Introduction

In a time of increased interdenominational respect and dialogue, not only between various traditions within Protestantism but also between Protestants and Roman Catholics, the Seventh-day Adventist Church continues to be reluctant about ecumenical encounters with other Protestants, and even more so with Roman Catholics. In this book, I describe the factors that have contributed to the persistent anti-Catholic position of Seventh-day Adventists. My aim is to establish which external factors played a significant role, and to explore which theological factors and developments in society contributed to the enduring anti-Catholic attitude of Seventh-day Adventists.

Adventists and Catholics: The History of a Turbulent Relationship is based on the doctoral dissertation that I successfully defended in 1993 at the University of London (UK). Andrews University Press, the publishing house of the premier Adventist university in the United States, decided to publish my study, expecting that many in the Seventh-day Adventist community would be interested in the topic. Their hunch proved to be correct. It was gratifying to see how the book was welcomed as a valuable resource for the study of Adventist history. It has been quoted quite widely ever since.

When I wrote my dissertation in the early 1990s my advisor suggested that I limit my analysis of Adventist anti-Catholicism to the period from the beginnings of the Adventist Church (including the Millerite movement, which formed the embedment of early Adventism), to the time of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). Through the years friends and colleagues in Adventist academic circles have urged me to return to this project and add a section that would extend the story beyond 1965—where I ended my original exploration—to the present. At last, I have done so, with this book as the result.

What Is This Book About?

Nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century American Protestantism was characterized by strong anti-Catholic sentiments, but in most Protestant denominations a more positive assessment of Catholicism gradually replaced the earlier hostility. So, why did Adventism not to the same extent share in this process? This question takes on added meaning when one considers the undeniable change in more recent Adventist attitudes toward other Protestant churches. The earlier negative assessment of contemporary Protestantism as merely “nominal” or even “apostate,” has to a considerable degree been replaced by more cordial feelings. Why has Adventism been able to modify its attitude regarding other Protestant denominations, but has it (at least officially) not been willing to revise its view of the Roman Catholic Church?

What have been the major elements in the anti-Catholic position of Adventism? To what extent does the Adventist attitude still reflect the general anti-Catholic climate of nineteenth and early twentieth century American Protestantism? What did Adventists in this respect inherit from the Millerite movement, and what was unique in the Seventh-day Adventist position? These and related issues will be addressed in this book.

This study focuses mainly on American Catholicism and the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the United States. Initially, Adventism was mainly an American phenomenon, but as time passed, it spread around the globe. In several European countries and in South- and Inter-America, the growing church was confronted with a Catholic majority population. It is beyond the scope of this book to chart the Adventist-Catholic relationships in all these countries. This is, however, not as big a drawback as it might seem. For, throughout the now almost two centuries of Adventist history, the church’s theology and attitudes have been largely shaped in America, by Americans or by non- Americans who have in great measure absorbed the ideas and attitudes of their American fellow-Adventists. It will become clear that most of the ideas behind the largely negative attitude toward Roman Catholicism in the earlier stages of Adventism have been retained by today’s Adventists in the United States and by the twenty-million-plus church members around the world.

Approach

In the first two chapters, I provide the necessary background for my account of Adventist anti-Catholicism. Chapter One outlines how Protestants in Puritan England and in colonial and early republican America viewed Catholicism. It describes the widespread and deep-rooted anti-Catholic sentiments— based on the long tradition of a particular interpretation of apocalyptic Bible prophecy—in the United States in general, and, in particular, in the region in which Millerism originated and briefly flourished.

Chapter Two deals with the Millerite movement, which Seventh-day Adventists regard as a prologue to the history of their denomination. It describes the views of William Miller and other leaders of the movement, which in a few years developed from an interdenominational revival group into a separate sect. Special attention is given to Miller’s system of biblical hermeneutics and the resulting interpretation of the Bible books of Daniel and Revelation, notably where these were applied to Roman Catholicism. The views of Miller and his associates are analyzed against the backdrop of the religious ferment which characterized the New England states and Upstate New York in the 1830s and 1840s, to determine what was unique about them and what was not. The interpretations of apocalyptic prophecy by Miller and his followers, and their opinions about Roman Catholics that resulted, provided the basis on which Seventh-day Adventists were to build. Over time, the Millerite movement has enjoyed considerable academic interest, resulting in a series of excellent scholarly publications and doctoral dissertations. These have been extensively used, but for my analysis of Millerite ideas I relied mostly on primary sources.1

Moving beyond the Millerite movement to Adventism, I divided my account into four segments: (1) 1844–1863: the period of Sabbatarian Adventism; (2) 1863–1915: the formative period of Seventh-day Adventism; (3) 1915–1965: Adventism in its maturing stage; and (4) global Adventism from 1965 to the present. The period beyond 1965 was not dealt with in the original dissertation and is covered in a new chapter (Chapter Six).

In Chapter Three, I explore how in the formative stages of their movement the Sabbatarian Adventists built on their Millerite heritage. It outlines how they adopted, refined, and revised the Millerite prophetic interpretations, notably those that were applied to Catholicism. I place special emphasis on the way in which the adoption of the seventh-day Sabbath further, and definitively, shaped the Adventist view of Catholicism: Not only was “Rome” believed to be responsible for the substitution of the divinely instituted Sabbath by the “pagan” Sunday, but the Sabbath-Sunday issue, and the perception of a continued Catholic enmity toward the Sabbath and its observers, was accorded enormous eschatological importance. I also point to another vital idea, which would be further developed in later decades: America’s end-time role in support of Catholicism, and the combined future efforts of a religio-political coalition of Protestants and Catholics, operating on American soil, and aimed at the ultimate annihilation of Sabbath keepers.

In researching this chapter, I consulted many relevant secondary sources, but here also I took care to analyze the Adventist ideas of this period on the basis of primary evidence. Most of the books and tracts written by the Adventist “pioneers” are extant and available for study. The most important source for this period (and for the entire period from 1863 to the present) is the denominational journal, which has been published weekly since 1850 under the title Adventist Review and Sabbath Herald, and from 1978 onward as the Adventist Review.2

Chapter Four covers the period in which Adventism came of age. It follows largely the same pattern as the previous chapter and explores some specific developments in prophetic interpretation. What makes this period of vital importance is the way in which events on the American religious scene, most notably those directly or indirectly related to Sunday legislation, strengthened Adventists in their conviction of the correctness of their eschatological views, with Catholicism and Protestant America as the future persecutors of a Sabbath-keeping minority. Once again Adventist reactions to contemporary Catholic issues are analyzed and briefly compared to the reactions of some other Protestant denominations. A section of this chapter is devoted to the views of Ellen G. White on Catholicism. Her influence as a “prophet” within Adventism can hardly be overestimated. Her views played a significant role in solidifying the Adventist anti-Catholic attitude.

In Chapter Five, I deal with Adventist reactions to issues in, or related to, Catholicism from 1915 until the Second Vatican Council, and explore whether there were significant changes in attitudes when compared to the earlier periods. The chapter shows how Adventists, while demonstrating more flexibility than before in their attitude toward other Protestant Christians, were unwilling to fundamentally reevaluate their position regarding Catholicism.

In Chapter Six, I pursue the development of the Adventist attitude toward Catholicism, beyond Vatican II. For this new chapter a wealth of source material was available.3 An important aspect in the phenomenal growth of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in this period was the increasingly important role of a large number of so-called independent ministries.4 Since several of these independent organizations display a very strident form of anti- Catholicism in the books and journals they publish, and on the websites they operate, their role will be included in my treatment of the post-1965 period. In this final chapter, I have made use of two papers that I presented at academic conferences. One dealt with recent developments in the relationship between Adventists and other Christians,5 and the other raised the question whether the church’s interpretation of apocalyptic prophecy is gradually changing.6

In a short concluding chapter, I summarize the findings of this study and re-iterate the main developments in Adventist thinking regarding Roman Catholicism, and I end with some personal observations.

The reader will notice that throughout the book I use numerous direct quotations from primary sources. My aim was not only to deal in this study with names, facts and events but also to convey the atmosphere, in society and church, in the successive periods that are chronicled in this book, and to articulate the passion and the sentiments that accompanied convictions and beliefs. I hope I have succeeded in what I set out to do in chronicling this history of a truly turbulent relationship.


1 When I was writing my dissertation most of the sources for Millerite and early Adventist history had to be studied in their printed form, with only a part of them being available on microfilm. Today most of these sources may be consulted in digital form, through the websites of the archives of the SDA Church (https://www.advent​ista​rchi​ves.org) and the Adventist Digital Library (https://adve​ntis​tdig​ital​libr​ary.org).

2 In the footnotes the denominational journal will be referred to, respectively, as RH and AR.

3 A recent study of Adventist relationships with other denominations has been very useful in the revision of this book and, especially, in preparing Chapter Six: Stefan Höschele, Adventist Interchurch Relationships: A Study in Ecumenics (Göttingen, Germany: Brill / V&R Unipress, 2022).

4 For an analysis of the phenomenon of parachurch-organizations or independent ministries, which claim to support the mission of the church, see Wesley K. Willmet, et al., The Prospering Parachurch: Enlarging the Boundaries of God’s Kingdom (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1998). In Adventism most “independent ministries” operate on the conservative edge of the denomination. Some are “supportive” and cooperate closely with the church, while other “ministries” are critical of church leadership and of what they perceive as questionable trends in the church.

5 Seventh-day Adventists and Other Christians: An Appraisal of the Current Situation. This paper was presented during a symposium at Newbold College of Higher Education (Binfield, UK), September 8–10, 1999. The theme of the symposium was: “From Persecution to Pluralism.” The paper was published (with the original title) in: David J.B. Trim and Daniel Heinz, eds., Parochialism, Pluralism and Contextualization (Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Peter Lang, 2010), 137–149.

6 Is the Adventist Hermeneutical Approach to Daniel and Revelation Changing? This paper was presented in Cernica (Romania) in April 2011, during a meeting of the (Adventist) European Theology Teachers Convention. It was published in a slightly revised form in Spes Christiana (autumn 2020), 5–24.

·1· The Context

A student of Seventh-day Adventism will soon discover how, throughout its history, Adventist literature and preaching were characterized by hostility toward Roman Catholics. The statement made in 1851 by Joseph Bates, one of Adventism’s pioneers, shortly after Sabbatarian Adventism had established itself as a group, following the disillusionment in 1844,1 is typical for the thinking that was current during the early stages of the movement. Commenting on Revelation 13:1–3, Bates explained:

We understand it thus: The dragon denotes the imperial power of Rome. The beast with seven heads, Papal Rome, or Popery … John saw in vision the Papal power of Rome, coming up among the nations of Europe in A.D. 538, with the power to continue forty-two months [1260 years]. At the expiration of this period “one (the seventh) of his heads is wounded to death.” By adding 1260 years to A.D. 538, we come down to A.D. 1798, at which period the French nation conquered Rome, and destroyed the seven-headed power, or Papal Rome …2

Details

Pages
XX, 326
Publication Year
2024
ISBN (PDF)
9781636676227
ISBN (ePUB)
9781636676234
ISBN (Hardcover)
9781636676210
DOI
10.3726/b21147
Language
English
Publication date
2024 (August)
Keywords
Seventh-day Adventism anti-Catholicism Roman Catholic Church American church history papacy prophetic interpretations intolerance
Published
New York, Berlin, Bruxelles, Chennai, Lausanne, Oxford, 2024. XX, 326 pp., 20 b/w ill.

Biographical notes

Reinder Bruinsma (Author)

Reinder Bruinsma was born in the Netherlands, where he is now retired after a career in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Netherlands, West Africa, the United States and Great Britain. He has a PhD from the University of London, and is the author of more than thirty books.

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